Javert ✍ 002

[chose_death]

Who: Javert, Edgeworth and the Police Force Interviewees - Anyone who feels like playing this out. Pretty much everyone is in, so no worries.
Where: Government District Courthouse
Style: Third preferred, but I like first too. I just tend to tl;dr with Javert.
Status: OPEN LIKE THE WIND. Don't feel pressured to wait for Akihiko to go first - anyone

Comments

[honor_tactics]

Gale found the office easily enough, pausing to knock on the door as he did at Naomi's residence. It still felt right to do so, at least with strangers. Perhaps it was the "proper" thing to do. He still wasn't entirely sure.

[chose_death]

Javert again checked his pocket watch. It was an appropriate time for another interview, and if he suspected correctly, it was the other ignorant one he had spoken briefly to through his device. Parbleu - he will be an interesting sort to maneuver. Certainly, the interested applicant would likely have a place in the service, but it will be a task to teach him.

"Come!" Javert called to the door, setting his pen aside and lifting his head to watch.

[honor_tactics]

He entered quietly, closing the door behind him. For the moment he remained silent. Gale's eyes met the other man's, performing brief observation.

A serious man...the lines in his face told that he was not one to laugh. Nor was he one to have much patience. There was honor in his eyes, but also something...dark.

"My name is Gale, of the Embryon Tribe. I believe we spoke earlier."

[chose_death]

Javert was a strict man. He held others to high standards, but he held it to himself to achieve an even higher level of polish, respect and honesty than others. The deep lines in his brow and about his mouth spoke of a trying, hardworking life - and death. Javert was surely an honest man and it shone through his cold grey eyes, but whether that qualified as honorable was another question.

"You are the fifth to stand there," uttered Javert in an imperious, authoritative tone. At least he had managed to rid himself of most of his counterproductive thoughts earlier in the morning. He stayed well on track through most of the day's interviews with little deviation.

Javert's eyes bored at - through - Gale, perhaps rivaling the Embryon strategist's own penetrating and discomfiting gaze. By now Javert did not need to bat an eyelash at unusual clothes or strange hair. It had already become commonplace in his mind

[honor_tactics]

"True...I do not have experience with this Service in particular. But I serve my Leader as strategist and interrogation expert. I have had prisoners under my care share their extensive knowledge all within five minutes, at times."

It was not a boast, but a statement of fact.

"I am more than physically capable of meeting the demands of the Service. And should it come to chasing someone who has threatened the peace here...well. They won't be able to get very far."

[chose_death]

Javert's graying eyebrows deepened at Gale's admissions, his thin lips twisting into a ferocious, displeased grimace. There was a thick pause. His pen scratched and squeaked furiously against his legal pad. When he spoke again, it resembled a low, thickly-accented rumble.

"How do you convince your prisoners to share?"

[honor_tactics]

"Deception of speech--I lead them down one line of conversation, only to state something unrelated to the conversation once they have relaxed. Their reaction often reveals much information. Other times I sympathize with them. Others, intimidation often brings about the desired result. It all depends on the individual in question."

His other methods would remain secret for now. After all, he was using them to judge the man at that moment.

[chose_death]

A simple tactic, but often it works. Javert, himself, is more prone to get information out of others by his simple presence of mind alone. In his own country, in his own time, Javert was regarded as one of the most fearsome, intimidating presences in the Police... but he was extremely good at what he did. No well-meaning, moral citizen had reason to fear him, and in fact, those that reported crimes to him knew that it would be in good hands. He always radiated an air of calm control in police matters.

Perhaps Gale would be able to read that in Javert's stern, cold eyes. And behind that veil, a pale hint of weariness, but little else.

"You boast keen observation, then," he murmurs. "A useful skill, if that is right."

Javert notes that on his papers - in French, of course. Without looking up, he makes another offhand comment to fish more information from Gale.

"You look more quick than strong."

After all, Gale did hint at power just a moment before.

[honor_tactics]

"With this body, yes. But the power that I have...should I use it, I could easily chase down a human being and pin them to the ground."

Gale paused for a moment.

"I suppose you will want to see the power that I speak of."

[chose_death]

Would that be so wise, Gale? Javert was known to have his prejudices. There was no reversing a decision to show him all of your power. Javert's eyes narrow, but whether it was due to intrigue or suspicion was left to be told.

Though it was Gale's word choice that gave Javert a start. Chase down a human being. With this body. Hm. He noted it and set it aside in his whirlwind of thoughts.

A demonstration will come in time. For now, a greater concern was nagging at Javert.

"Save the demonstration for the end," instructed Javert in a clipped, snappy tone. "It can wait. I want to hear you speak." He pushed his legal pad aside.

"Just hours ago you did not understand a word of the law. You must be confident in your understanding! One mistake will cost you -- the Service, even more!" Another tap of his square boot against the floor. By the slightly unhinged look in his eye, it was telling that this kind of issue was something he carried close to the chest. Something was bothering him, through that melancholic and stern air. "Can you

[honor_tactics]

Gale thought for a long time before he spoke.

"There is much about the world that I do not understand. I come from a world where the only law is the Temple--and their laws forced my Tribe to fight like mindless slaves for years. Every day I saw my comrades die--and because I did not possess the capacity for human emotion then, I did not care. New recruits always replaced those lost.

After this power came, I met a man who taught me that there was nothing honorable in simply obeying such a cruel demand. ...He taught me with his own life. His death gave me direction, and freedom. Freedom to choose my own path

[chose_death]

A touching story, to be sure.

Unfortunately, Javert was not a man known for his compassion or kindness but for his ability to remain just. He cared little about tribes or temples or from how primitive a civilisation Gale had sprung. A just man cannot always afford kindness. He heard Gale's story out to its end, but it wasn't the emotional appeal that drew him in. Instead, he focused on the prime implications of what Gale had said.

No honor in simply obeying.

Throughout his life, Honor was never what Javert sought. He understood that remaining just did not always mean that he was honorable. But it recalled to him one very significant event in his fifty-two years of life:

The law was not always the just and moral means by which to live. Javert had allowed a criminal to slip away from him and out of sight of the law in order to repay a life debt. And yet, it was inconceivable that he should allow him to run free after so many years of rampant disregard for the law

[honor_tactics]

Gale had seen a flicker of...something, in Javert's eyes during that long silence. That's when he realized...

We are the same, you and I. You have only just recently awakened...

It was time to pay his debt to Lupa. If this was the best way, then so be it. To pass on the lessons that he had learned would be a difficult task. This man was not of the Junkyard. He had retained his emotions throughout his life, knew more of the world than Gale did.

But it wouldn't hurt to try.

"It has been dealt with already. But they are quite likely to attempt something similar again. They are both quite capable of killing someone who shares the same power as I...I would not expect you to try to keep track of them by yourself."

[chose_death]

"This and that," Javert tittered imperiously with a low tsking sound. Despite his recent lapse into... something else... he seemed to set his sights right back on track within a reasonable amount of time. Though there were little hints about him for those who might have known him prior to his appearance in Somarium - a misplaced hair, his cravat slightly off-center - that he never would have allowed to slip by if he were completely in his right mind.

"I want their names on the record! I will make certain they are properly tailed."

[honor_tactics]

Gale nodded. "Then you shall have them. Well--am I accepted into the Service? Or am I not what you had in mind?"

[chose_death]

The deep frown between his eyes thickened, his dark gaze flicking right back up to Gale. Javert did not appreciate tactics like this, no matter what kind of discomfiting nerve the interviewee struck.

"Do not presume to bargain with me that way," spoke Javert through his teeth. "The names first! Then we will speak of your employment."